Free cricket predictions, best bets, betting tips, and in-depth analysis for Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semi-final between Pakistan vs. New Zealand
The Black Caps will look to Back Boult to open the scoring in the semi-final in Sydney.
Where to look for it
Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m., on Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event: New Zealand vs. Pakistan
Best bets
- Over the course of 20.5 performance points, Trent Boult earned 3 points 5-6: OKBET
- Iftikhar Ahmed top Pakistan runscorer 1pt 10-1 OKBET, Hills
Preview
On Sunday, the Netherlands shocked South Africa by the score of 10-1, which provided a lifeline for Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup. This allowed Babar Azam’s team to book their place in the semi-finals with a commanding win over Bangladesh.
This final-day drama in Group 2 was very much in keeping with Pakistan’s campaign because they had previously lost thrilling encounters with India and Zimbabwe before earning an impressive victory over South Africa in Sydney.
The semi-final match between Pakistan and New Zealand will take place at the SCG on Wednesday morning. New Zealand has finished in second place at the last two 50-over World Cups as well as the T20 tournament that took place in the UAE last year, and they are the slight favorites to advance to yet another final.
Read on: Why Choose OKBET Sportsbook for ICC T20 World Cup Betting Tips?
The New Zealand Black Caps have also had a successful time in Sydney during this World Cup. They defeated the tournament hosts and the defending champions, Australia, by 89 runs in their opening Group 1 match, and then they defeated Sri Lanka by 65 runs.
They were 15-3 against Sri Lanka, whose top order then collapsed to 24-5 in the run-chase, and Pakistan had to recover from 43-4 to post a matchwinning score of 185-9 against South Africa in Sydney. Early wickets were a feature of New Zealand’s games at the SCG; they were 15-3 against Sri Lanka, whose top order then collapsed to 24-5 in the run-chase.
Trent Boult failed to take a wicket in either of the New Zealand team’s final two group matches, which were played against England and Ireland. However, he did take 2-24 against Australia and 4-13 against the Sri Lankans at the SCG, and he should be excited about the opportunity to bowl to the Pakistani openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, who are currently under a lot of pressure.
Boult has also made a catch in four of his most recent six Twenty20 internationals, which is worth ten points on the performance market at OKBET, and he has the potential to surpass a mark of 20.5.
If the left-armer and Tim Southee, who took 3-6 off of 2.1 overs against the Australians, are on the money again, then Pakistan will need their middle-order batsmen to step up and perform similarly to how they did when playing South Africa.
Iftikhar Ahmed also played an important inning, scoring 51 runs off of 35 rocks, which helped deflate the Proteas’ chances of victory. However, number seven Shadab Khan scored 52 runs off of just 22 balls.
He has been Pakistan’s man for the big occasion at this tournament, scoring 51 off 34 in the opening game against India, and he made 27 and 25 not out against New Zealand during the T20 tri-series that took place in Christchurch last month. He also scored 51 off 34 in the opening game against India.
Iftikhar scored 62 not out and 45 against the Australians in November 2019 as part of his T20 international career, and he appears to be a big price to top-score in the first semi-final. Iftikhar’s early T20 international career showed that he enjoyed playing on Australian pitches.
In the second semifinal on Thursday at the Adelaide Oval, England has an even chance of beating India’s 4-5 shot odds. As a result of the groin strain that Dawid Malan is suffering from, it is highly likely that Phil Salt, the reserve batsman, will be promoted into the starting 11.
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